Sizing and preliminary hardware testing of solar powered UAV

Integrating solar energy into modern aircraft technology has been a topic of interest and has received a lot of attention from researchers over the last two decades. A few among the many potential applications of this technology are the possibility of continuous self sustained flight for purposes such as information relay, surveillance and monitoring. This paper discusses the altitude and payload mass, as independent parameters, and their influence on the size and design of the aircraft. To estimate available solar power, two different models have been presented; one for low altitudes and the other for high altitudes. An engineering ground model was built to simulate the power and propulsion system over 24 h of continuous operation. The paper presents data from tests performed till date and lessons learnt while dealing with the construction of the engineering ground model as well as changes that can be made to improve the design. (C) 2013 Production and hosting by Elsevier B. V. on behalf of National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences.